Hoping for Reality
by x'KatieLouise'x
Summary: Tris, after surviving what happens in Allegiant, must learn how to start again with Four. Just as things seem to settling down and going back to relative normalcy, Four makes a statement that could change Tris's world all over again. What else could be behind the fences? R&R Two shot/ three shot.


**Hello. This is my first bit of writing in a few years now so I'd appreciate it if you're all nice. **

**I'm new to Divergent writing but I absolutely love the film and read all 3 books in a week. **

**This story will be a two-shot...maybe three and takes place immediately after the ending of Allegiant (not the epilogue) Tris does not die (cried like a baby at that) and although I don't mention him in this episode neither does Uriah. Peter may pop up too but with his memory intact. **

**Anyway, please read and I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any story or character affiliated with the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. **

**Hoping for Reality**

**Chapter One- The New World**

Things had changed...again. We all know that life will not be the way it once was, but when will we begin to be normal? I can't remember the last time it felt like I truly belonged somewhere. Was it back in Abnegation? Or when I became an initiate in Dauntless? It has to be one or the other because as soon as I became a fully fledged member of Dauntless we had all been running and there's nothing normal about that. Well, perhaps it is to us now.

"You okay?" His voice used to cause me to freeze in fear when he was simply my teacher; his voice always hard and demanding. These days however, his voice is soft to me and I have to admit it still takes my breath away.

"Just...thinking," I respond, a wistful smile making its way onto my face. I keep my eyes on him as he gently cups my face with his warm, rough hand. He's been touching me a lot recently; even when we're just standing and talking he's always touching me in some way or other. I'm not blind to the reason why, we haven't really spoken about the...incident shall we call it. All that he said was I wasn't allowed to leave him again, especially in the way that I did.

"About?" His hand drops from my cheek and he takes the seat next to me, instantly grabbing my hand in the process.

"What now?" I say in a whisper, trying to ignore the urge to look at his face. I know the expression it would hold. One of agony mixed with grief and relief. The face that was quickly becoming his every day look. I caused that face, that look. I caused that look the day we stopped the government bureau from releasing the memory serum; the day he was inside the city; the day I wouldn't let Caleb go.

The day I died.

I finally turn to look at him when he drops my hand. His blue eyes are trained on the floor in front of his feet, his chin dropped to his chest. "Tris..." I know that tone and what it means. We had been ignoring the problem for weeks now and he has finally had enough.

"Four? Zeke wants to see you..." Christina's voice fills the silent room, breaking his reverie. I watch him nod and stand before me, he looks confused about what to do for a moment before he finally decides on kissing my cheek and leaving the room in silence. "Wow, you could cut the tension in here with a knife...Tris?"

I finally look up from the ground, not realising how long I'd been staring at it. "Sorry," I mumble, my forehead creasing.

"Want to talk about it?" Christina sits in the chair Tobias has just vacated. "I get it...what he's going through." Christina states, leaning against the cold wall behind her. We should feel at home being back in the Dauntless compound but we all find it too cold, too out of sync. When we chose to return to our old home it seemed like the most obvious choice but since we've actually been home it feels like we are trespassing on someone else's property and for that, we don't know why.

I tilt my head to the side finally acknowledging Christina's presence. . "What do you mean?" Christina sighs and remains silent for a few moments, contemplating the easiest way to talk respond to me. The Candor part of herself takes over.

"You died Tris. We got back and you were dead. You don't realise how...hard that is to hear, that your best friend...or your girlfriend is dead upstairs. That's all Cara said you know. She didn't say they were trying to resuscitate you and get the bullets out, she said you were dead because she didn't believe you'd come back from that." Christina sighs again and wipes under her eyes. "We got to that room and you were so pale and there was all this blood and he died too. The face he pulled, the agony washing over him...he _died _Tris. He collapsed and I didn't know what to do, hugging him felt so out of place but I did it anyway, then you breathed."

I notice a small smile has spread on my best friends face. "You were breathing, bleeding all over the place but you were breathing again and I thought that maybe, you would make it. He stayed in that room for hours after they'd taken you away. I'm not even sure he realised that you were alive..." She takes a breath. "I don't understand why you guys don't talk about it."

I contemplate her words. Why do we jump around it? Perhaps we don't discuss it because it makes it less likely that it ever happened. Or maybe we don't discuss it because we're both too afraid. "We're hardly going to relive that..." I finally mouth, my forehead creasing even more.

"You need to get it out in the open...he's obviously suffering as a result of it. I mean, he touches you twenty four seven!" Her exclamation causes a red glow to cover my face.

"You've noticed?"

"How could we not?" She nudges me in the side gently as my cheeks burn redder. "I get why he does it, if he touches you he knows you're really there; he knows he's not dreaming." Her words hit a note with me. I came to her conclusions myself a few days after the whole thing, how could I not? As much as he fights his Abnegation past that's still a part of who he is so public displays of affection are not things he does lightly. So to go from not all that much to every possible second he could is a big leap.

"I guess I don't know how to talk to him about it." I look towards the door where not five minutes ago Tobias was walking out of it.

"Just ensure him that you're not going anywhere, if you can help it of course." Christina stands and walks the few steps to the door, once there she turns and looks at me, her eyes glazed over ever so slightly. "And he's not the only one that had to deal with it you know..." Her statement lingers in the air as she turns and walks away. I suppose she's right. All this time I thought it was just Tobias dealing with my 'death' but it would have affected her too. She thought she'd lost her best friend; I'm not sure what I'd do if I lost Christina... I wonder if anyone else is suffering because of me.

The Dauntless compound isn't as loud and busy as it once was. When we returned and the factionless 'army' disbanded, Dauntless members began heading back to their home. Even now, weeks later, people were still filtering through the entrances, finally deciding that this is where they belong.

I didn't realise how long it would take to adjust being back in the Dauntless lifestyle and I'm not alone in those thoughts. Some who were under the controlled serum returned home for all of five minutes before they became conscious to the fact that they didn't belong anymore; most of these had killed innocent Abnegation and no matter how many times they were told that it wasn't their fault, that Jeanine Matthews was the one that made them murderers, they did not believe the words. And so they left. None of us know where they have gone.

Some of the younger people started going on about them having no choice but to become factionless because they'd left. This caused a mild uproar from a few and it was Zeke that made the announcement that the factionless no longer existed.

Because we made it so.

Somehow, Dauntless have been put in charge since everything happened. No one understands or knows how but that's how it has been. We still have a government and Johanna Reyes was elected by the people to run it. So with the help of the new Dauntless leaders, Johanna has been making new 'rules' for the people of Chicago to follow. The main rule being that the factionless are no more. The factionless are now welcome wherever they choose to go; whatever faction they choose to join.

The factions themselves still obviously exist, only not in the ways they once did. We've tried to make it so that people can move from faction to faction if they can't find the right 'fit' for themselves. And when next year's initiates choose their faction they have no way of failing the initiation process.

Johanna's most important rule that we must now follow is that the statement of 'Faction before Blood' no longer exists.

We are trying to build a better world for us all to live in, and I hope it works.

"Hey," I greet my friends at the dinner table and sit down. Meal times have not changed since I was an initiate; something my new found taste buds are very pleased about. "Do you know what Zeke wanted with Tobias?" I ask as I place a burger on my plate. Christina shakes her head. "I haven't seen him since..." I glance around the room quickly; it had been hours since Tobias met with Zeke. I can't remember the last time he left me alone for this long.

"All this lovely food and you're seriously still eating peas and bread?" Christina laughs at me as I put my bread to my mouth.

"What? I have a burger!" I laugh with her. "As much as I love all this tasty food...I can't help but love the bland stuff too okay?" My justification makes her snort.

"Once a Stiff..." she states turning away from me, a humorous glint in her eye. I love it when everyone tries to act like nothing has really changed. Throughout initiation people called me Stiff and as much as it annoyed me, it also determined me to prove them otherwise and I managed to. Now, I'm only called a Stiff when people are joking.

The energy and laughter in the room is contagious; these are the times that it feels like nothing has changed. There's a part of me that wishes everything would stay like this always but I know it's an impossible feat. We can't forget what has happened no matter how hard we try. At least the laughter keeps it at bay the longest.

Whispers cause me to lose interest in the jokes being passed around by my friends. I hear Tobias's name being mumbled numerous times from the younger generations around the room so I know he is close by. I feel his lips on my neck before he takes the spare seat next to me. He smiles but it doesn't quite reach his eyes; he's troubled.

"Everything alright?" I ask ignoring everyone as they try to get his attention. His eyes are trained on mine.

"There are things we need to discuss," he says, his hand moving forward to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. "Later." He smiles again before turning to face the others on our table. I watch him as he pretends to laugh at a joke Shauna tells the group. He's always cryptic about things when there's something important he needs to talk to me about. I continue watching him as he places food on the plate in front of him; he's anxious.

"I'd like to talk to you about something later too." He turns to face me as I speak, his eyebrows rise. "Later." I force a smile onto my face before leaning against him as I listen to the drabble around me.

Tobias and I now share his old apartment in the Dauntless compound; he no longer sleeps on the floor of course. The room is sparse of useless belongings and everything is always in its rightful place, that's the Abnegation in us. We haven't spoken much to each other since the dinner table, I imagine his mind is mulling over what he has to say just as mine is doing the same. Whilst he is in the bathroom I slip into one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts before sliding into the double bed. I prop myself up, leaning against the bed frame.

"You're on my side of the bed again." I turn at the sound of his voice entering the room and see his handsome face covered in his genuinely happy smile. "And that's my favourite shirt." I glance down at the first shirt I just happened to come across and roll my eyes.

"This happens to just be a plain black t-shirt, I believe you have hundreds in your drawers," I tease him. I hear him laugh lightly under his breath as he turns his back on me and pulls his shirt over his head. I fight the gasp that wants to escape my lips every time I see his muscular back covered in that spectacular tattoo. He turns around and he raises one of his eyebrows accusingly.

"Are you staring at me?" My eyes widen as a blush covers my cheeks. I shouldn't be embarrassed at being caught staring at him without a t-shirt, as he is my boyfriend after all but I can't help it. It's not just his tattoo that is mesmerizing; it's the muscles from his chest to his abdomen. I'd never really seen a man without a shirt on before (the dauntless initiates don't count, I was too busy trying to remain covered myself than look at them) and to be truthful, I wouldn't ever want to see another man minus one. Tobias is easily one of the most attractive men I have seen, next to him, I must look far below average.

"Yes." I bite my lip to control the supersize grin that wants to erupt on my face; how can I be so in love with him? He shakes his head as he finally makes his way over to the bed and crawls in next to me.

"If you remain on my half...I'm going to have to wrestle you across..." His blue eyes look straight into mine, his face only inches away. His chest his only slightly touching my shoulder and yet my heart is beating so fast I'm sure he can see it popping in and out of my chest. Confidence swirls inside me.

"I'd like to see you try." Not even a second after the words have left my mouth his hands are on my waist and he's lifting me to the side. He puts me back down again so I'm dead central on the bed; he's only moved me a few inches.

"Not hard was it." He smirks as he slides down and places his head on his pillow. I look down at him from where I'm still sitting up.

"Because I didn't try." I state stubbornly, shifting so I too, am lying down. I rest my head on the edge of my pillow facing him, a small gap between our two bodies. We just look at each for a minute or two, taking each other in; I could never get bored of looking into his eyes. A smile covers his face as he reaches forward a gently runs a finger down my face.

"Come here will you?" His hand brushes along my side and rests on my waist for a moment before he pulls me closer to him. We do a similar routine most nights. Some nights I will rest on 'his' side of the bed and he'll tell me to budge over, once he's in the bed though he'll pull me close to him and we both sleep with our heads on his pillow. Or if I'm already on my side he'll question why I'm not closer and pull me before I can even say a word. This is our night time ritual and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I love being this close to him, our faces and chest inches apart so we can hear the others heartbeat clearly. It's why he does it, I realised a few days after we began the routine...he likes to hear my heartbeat so he knows its beating.

"What was it Zeke wanted you for?" I ask as I snuggle in closer to him, my head rests under his chin; His arms instinctively encircle me.

"You go first," his voice is low and wistful; something is definitely on his mind. "What did you want to talk about?" I freeze in his grasp and I know he notices my sudden rigidness. How do I begin this conversation? Do I really want to have this conversation or can we just carry on like we have been?

"Umm," I close my eyes and sigh; of course we need to have this conversation. We should have after it happened. "We should talk...about that...day." This time it's him that instantly goes rigid and he recoils from me.

"I don't want to." I lean back so our faces are level. He has his stubborn face on and his eyes have darkened. He looks like he did in his fear landscape when we moved into the room with his father. "It's done. Over."

I shake my head slightly and reach my hand to cup his face. "Tobias..." As soon as the word has escaped my lips he lunges so he is lying on top of me. His hands grip my arms and waist, a little too tightly and his lips ravage over mine in fervent kisses. "Tobias..." His name escapes my mouth in a moan. He's distracting me and it's working. I try to stay stiff in his embrace but it's too easy to get lost in him. "Tobias." I say more strongly, trying to ignore the bubbling feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Now is not the right time. "Please," I beg him to resist his incessant kissing and his stubbornness only he does not. His grip on my waist tightens and I twist in instinct. And suddenly he freezes, his head placed in the nape of my neck, his grip on my waist slackening until he's merely massaging the area softly and I feel a cold wetness drop onto my shoulder. He's crying. "Tobias," I turn my head as my hands hold his neck in a vain attempt to get him to look at me.

"You died." His deep voice croaks. My hands move to thread through his hair soothingly. "You died." He croaks again and he finally turns his tear filled eyes to look at me.

"But I'm okay." I whisper, my hands continually threading through his hair and then brushing down over his neck.

"You didn't have to see it...live it," he shakes his head a little, stopping anymore tears from falling. "All those times, I pleaded with you to not do anything stupid and..." He doesn't finish his sentence not that I would take offence to his words. I did do something stupid when I promised him time and again that I wouldn't. But how was I supposed to walk my brother in his death when I was angry with him for practically doing the same thing.

"I know, I'm sorry." His lips twist a little at my words. "But I'm here now...I'm okay and I promise you...I _swear _to you I'm not leaving you nor do I _ever _want to." I hold his head between my hands as I speak the words, our eyes locked on each other. He nods, believing me and leans forward so his forehead is rested on mine. "I _love _you." The words seem so little but mean so much.

"I love you too." He mumbles, the smallest of smiles on his lips. "Can I kiss you?" I smile this time.

"Always." Our kiss is soft and loving. He sighs against my lips and pulls back. I tilt my head at the darkening of his eyes again. "What?" He doesn't answer straight away; instead he pulls himself off me and sits on the edge of the bed. "You're worrying me..." I kneel behind him, the covers pulled against my chest as if they will protect me from the next words he will say.

"The meeting with Zeke this morning..." I nod at him even though he cannot see me as he's facing away. "My mother was there," I flinch slightly when he mentions her. She may have given up her goals of a factionless life but I still don't trust her. "She said there's something going on outside the fences..." My heart drops. _Please not again. _"There's a group going to check it out."

I know what he's about to say and yet I close my eyes and hope something else will come.

"I'm going with them."


End file.
